Hull structure monitoring for high-speed Naval ships
The importance and the need for equipping high-speed naval vessels with an operational real-time structural health monitoring system are discussed. Currently, there are several Navy acquisition programs that contain ship and hull monitoring aspects. Examples of such will be given. Particularly, current status and activities of a hull condition-monitoring project for the Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV) program will be presented. This program develops a Hull Monitoring System, which is composed of stand-alone commercially available software and hardware. It provides data measurement, data collection and conditioning, data processing and evaluation, as well as results presentation and storage. This hull monitoring system and processes are leveraging experiences gained from previous monitoring efforts on Navy vessels. Although this system docs not have structural diagnosis and prognosis capabilities, it will deliver improved data recording, motion, load and usage monitoring. This project will provide valuable experience towards the development of intelligent strategy and automated processes to effectively manage future Naval ship structures.
